1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to file management and more particularly to identifying and updating changes in data directories.
2. Background
Electronic flight bags are used by flight crews to perform flight management tasks. These electronic information management devices increase the ease and efficiency of flight management tasks. An electronic flight bag is a general purpose computing platform that reduces, or replaces, paper-based reference material used by the flight crew, including the Aircraft Operating Manual, Aircrew Operating Manual, and Navigational Charts. In addition, the electronic flight bag can host purpose-built software applications to automate other functions normally conducted by hand, such as performance take-off calculations.
Information updates are used to ensure that the data on an electronic flight bag is up-to-date. Because these data uploads are often large, the transmission process may be time-consuming. The transmission of data updates to the electronic flight bags are typically performed over wireless connections. Often, the aircraft requiring an electronic flight bag update may only be on the ground for a limited amount of time between flights. The time constraint presented by the aircraft availability on-ground, the low bandwidth available for wireless transmission, and the time-consuming process of a large data update combine to present a dilemma for efficient data updates to electronic flight bags.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a method and apparatus that overcomes one or more of the issues described above as well as possibly other issues.